Lotte's Akito Takabe held a public training session at Zozo Marine Stadium on the 6th.

Takabe plays every year in search of a new sensation when batting, and when asked about his batting style in 2025, he said, "I think what's evaluated now is OPS, so it's things like long hits, and I'm the type to hit hits. I'm going to try to increase the number of hits, get as many as possible, and bring the team to good numbers." When asked about his batting style in 2026, he thought for a moment, saying, "That's difficult," and then stated his determination, "I really couldn't hit last year, so this year I just want to hit, create a rhythm with my batting, and play well in defense and base running, so first of all I want to make my presence felt with my batting."

At the end of July last season, his batting average was .238, but after focusing on swinging harder in August, his batting average rose to .337. In an interview after the season ended, he reflected, "I don't think it's everything, but there were a lot of good things about it, and by swinging harder, I think I was able to find some new strengths, so I think there are some positive aspects to it that I can use to carry forward."

Looking ahead to the new season, it seems he plans to continue the "swinging hard" approach he has been working on since last summer, and add something extra to his game.

"Yes, I think there are many different ways to swing hard, but rather than just swinging hard, I'm now conscious of using my body well to hit the ball so that it flies strong.I'm using my body to the fullest, but rather than using all my strength, I'm trying to transfer the best possible power to the ball."

He volunteered this season to change to '0' on number, which Takashi Ogino had worn until last season. I have to start from number street 0 and put my colors on once more. I want to look at myself one more time here and make the best of the season. I need to get off to a good start, and I want to put all the pressure on myself to do so.

"I want to try out a lot of different things, so I have the most time to do so, and with that in mind, I'm thinking of this as a period where I just need to work hard, so I'm training every day," he said, and he trained without taking a break even during the New Year holidays. He will swing the bat to achieve his goal of winning the title of "most hit" this season.

Interview and text by Yuta Iwashita